I agree. I've had this discussion with the editors before about being more assertive about the way they go about reviewing the products. I really don't like the fact that we have to read between the lines. If something sucks, just say so.

Given that Stereophile reviews tend to be glowing for the most part, I exaggerate the negatives they mention to account for "diplomacy". Hence, any time you read in the reviews that there are flaws in the product, especially a really expensive product, figure that the thing sucks.

The only thing I saw that seemed negative in the post, were comments concerning the pricing. The rest was accountable to room anomalies and not the speaker itself.

If you can afford the speaker and buy into the Wilson philosophy of paying extra for the best parts and materials, even if you don't necessarily always need them to produce the same sound quality (using metal instead of plastic, etc...), then the review really didn't say anything bad about the speakers.

People read what they want to read though, despite all logic, so a lot of people who don't like Wilson seem to be reading things that aren't there IMO. Yeah, Wilson speakers are expensive, but no one is going to force you to buy any of them if you don't appreciate their sound enough to spend the money that they cost...

People also have different preferences for what they like in terms of sound reproduction. There are so many unique characteristic sounds out there made by individual niche companies in the high end audio market, that expecting reviewers to like all of them the same is ridiculous. They are people too, with their own preferences and biases. So taking someone's personal preference as an "absolute" is silly. This is why reviewers state things in terms of their preferences when comparing two speakers IMO, like Wes Phillips did in the review when comparing the W/P8s and the Dynaudio Confidence C4s. How much of that would change if the speakers were in a different location where a room mode null and a speaker frequency response null didn't correspond in such an unfortunate way? I don't know, and neither do you.

Ultimately, you should use your own ears and decide if you like what you hear.

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Jeff,

I ordered today W/P system 8.
What color did you choose?
Do you know how the Wilson's match with Audio Research Reference 110 or with HD220?

Thanks, Tomer

Titan Red.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure how they match with ARC products. If you find out, let me know. I'm actually interested in how they sound with Wilson products also. I do know for sure that the Ayre gear sounds excellent with the W/P7s as I demoed them together awhile ago before the W/P8s were released. The ARC gear does have an excellent reputation.

The Balanced Audio Technology and Wilson W/P8s sounded great together at HE2007, as well.

BTW, Wes wrote this in March 2007:

Quote:
At the end of the day, I'd describe the Dynaudio Confidence C4 as a reference-level loudspeaker that remained likable no matter what I played. If that sounds like faint praise, it isn't intended as such. I've reviewed speakers I respect and speakers I admire, but speakers that I like form a much smaller group. I respect and admire the C4, but most of all, I like it and I want to listen to it. A lot.

In the W/P8 review he wrote:

Quote:
You may not like the WATT/Puppy, but I bet the chances are greater you'll love it. While acknowledging that it's not perfect, I'm a lot closer to "love" than to "like."

A lot closer to "love" than to "like," doesn't sound like a statement of dislike to me when you compare those two quotes and consider that he was comparing those same two speakers in his W/P8 review. I doubt his choice of words was a coincidence, but I could always be wrong.

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You can read about the match between Wilson W/P8 & Audio Research Reference 110.
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/audioresearch_ref110.htm

Thanks for posting that link. I'll take a look at it later.

If you let the Product Page run through its flash presentation, the Watch Dog is in Titan Red. Mine won't be arriving until Monday unfortunately. The freight company couldn't schedule me until then.

ARGH! You have to wait until after the weekend?!

I HATE when that happens.

It will be fun to learn what you think after you receive them and have a chance to play.

Quote:
ARGH! You have to wait until after the weekend?!

I HATE when that happens.

It will be fun to learn what you think after you receive them and have a chance to play.

Funny enough, and my audiophile friend who went to HE 2007 with me thinks I'm crazy for feeling this way, I'm not in any frantic anticipation over it. It will be nice to get them, set them up and enjoy them on Monday, but the salesman won't be coming to voice them until next Saturday as that was a convenient day for both of us.

I've learned through trial and error over the years, that nice things (and expensive things) can be enjoyable, but they can't make anything in your life essentially better at the core. If I can't be happy with nothing, I won't be happy with anything. If I can't enjoy music anywhere, at any time, on any system, then I will never be happy no matter what equipment I own; I'll always be moving on to something else. I good system only sweetens an already great thing.

I've been blessed to have the resources to enjoy and experiment with many different areas of indulgence over my lifetime so far, but the most fortunate and prized thing I have attained is the realization that "things" are not a substitute for "spirit." So, I'll wait patiently, do what needs to be done for today, and enjoy them once they arrive.

I will definitely be sure to post information once they are set up and voiced. I'll also post ETF measurements of them in my listening room, etc, on my AVSForum HT Construction thread, and here as well.

BTW Elk, that is one hilarious avatar you have there, and I love the play on words in your "Loc:" field, e.g. Out Standing vs. outstanding.

Thanks!

And you are right; how one approaches things (and experiences) is more important then the things themselves.

I'm not sure what kind of setup technique to use tomorrow. I don't know how to do the WASP technique at home alone. I suppose I'll try them in the same positions as the 802Ds first, since the tape is still on the floor for where I had them positioned. Perhaps taking a measurement there for comparison to the 802D measurements would be interesting.

Any recommendations would be appreciated, especially since they will increase my knowledge. I'm not looking to move my seating position however, so any methods that require total room renovation won't work for me.

Last night I had a dream that I called the shipping company because they forgot to schedule a drop off time for me today. When I called them they didn't have it listed in their records at all, and they said they couldn't deliver it today or tomorrow.

So I get up this morning and call the freight company. First the supervisor I talked to said it wasn't listed as having been picked up at all. Then I got on the phone with the person who originally scheduled the pickup and got the number for the company to whom they outsourced the delivery. It turns out that they can't schedule it today, and I will be at a funeral tomorrow. Since they can't guarantee a specific time to deliver it tomorrow, we had to schedule it for Wednesday.

While I am a little bit upset, I'm grateful that I received a warning in my dream. It is sort of like the universe is saying, "Hey, you won't get them when you expected, but have this dream as a gift instead."